Monday, March 30, 2009

10-1-E Cross Hand Grip and the Spirit of TGM

Recently there was a Wall Street Journal article discussing the Stack & Tilt method and stating:

Nobody would confuse Stack and Tilt with the swing detailed in "The Golfing Machine," a thick 1969 instruction manual by Homer Kelley which also has many devotees on the PGA Tour, including most avidly Steve Elkington.

The Golfing Machine is not about one swing or one method. It is basically a catalog of countless swings that can effectively hit the ball. And nobody is marketing a TGM swing as 'the one true way.' Even though there are plenty of TGM AI's that prefer one style of pattern, at the very least almost every AI can teach a hitter's style swing and a swinger's type stroke.

Anyway, the shining example of the 'cataloging of different swings and components of the swing' can be illustrated with 10-1-E where Mr. Kelley goes into the cross hand grip.

10-1-E CROSS HAND The Cross Hand GRIP requires a completely different set of procedures and its shortcomings make that appear an unwarranted expenditure. The Hand positions are reversed – the Right above the Left – and its main feature is that the Right Arm Action cannot overpower the Flat Left Wrist. Everything applies to this grip that applies to the normal Overlap, including variations B, C and D. There are NO recommended exceptions.

Basically meaning that the Cross Hand grip requires the exact opposite of the standard right hand low grip. However, there are shortcomings of the cross hand grip (probably a bit of a power loss and feeling uncomfortable) that Homer advises may not be worth trying. The main feature is that the right arm action cannot overpower the flat left wrist, which is really nice. Lastly, the variations of the normal overlap grip (weak, strong, neutral overlap grips) apply to the cross hand grip as well.

So many great things here, hitting the 2 imperatives (clubhead lag pressure point and a flat left wrist at impact --- the other imperative you cannot see from here). Also an excellent pivot helped out by superb foot action. There's no weight up on the toes here.

As Mr. Kelley stated in 1-H 'There is no effort to classify any Stroke Pattern as best or worst, except on the basis of Mechanical Advantage. But there is undoubtedly a best 'central' Stroke Pattern for each individual.'

I like this blog and want to see more on it. I'm hitting with the cross grip as well and its working out good for me but someone tried to make me change my grip. Any suggestions if I should change my grip to the regular grip or stick to the cross hand grip?